AUSTIN, Minn. — It’s been more than two months since Minnesota raised their tax on cigarettes and tobacco businesses are feeling the pinch.

Cigarette sales are down throughout the state and that could be contributed to each pack costing a $1.60 extra.

Businesses, such as Austin Tobacco, say things have slowed down. But, they still have their share of customers coming in the store.

“We actually expected to be much slower than we are,” Manager Jill Wilder said. “But, we knew about a few months ahead of time. We gave people as much notice as we could and a lot of people stocked up that week right before.”

Numbers shows cigarette sales dropped more than 35 percent this past July compared to July from last year.